As American as U-haul
You see them everywhere in your neighborhood on weekends those orange and white trucks. Today they come in many sizes and shapes and carry all kinds of merchandise and family hopes and dreams. You probably know of a family that drove a U-haul across the country as they migrated to new jobs and better prospects. Since everybody knows that and so many people are using them it gets interesting to acknowledge some of the uses those familiar trucks have made the news.
As travelers flock back to Hawaii, the supply and demand of rental vehicles in the state has driven up car costs to as much as $1,000 a day, since many companies sold off parts of their fleets when bookings were low during the pandemic. But now, some savvy travelers have found a new way to ensure they’re able to cruise around the Aloha State on wheels — by renting a U-Haul. “We have seen a considerable uptick in U-Haul rentals from customers who are visiting the islands now,” Kaleo Alau of Hawaii’s U-Haul Company in Hawaii told Insider last week. “We realize this demand is occurring when tourists are unable to secure a rental car, or they learn that our rental fleet options are more affordable.” Currently on its site, both an eight-foot pickup truck and a nine-foot cargo van are listed for $19.95 a day (plus $0.89/mile) in Honolulu this week. Most rental car companies require drivers to be 25 years old and up, though many do offer vehicles to renters as young as 20 for an additional fee. Hawaii isn’t the only place experiencing what has been dubbed a “car rental apocalypse.” Warm-weather spring break favorites like Florida, Arizona, and Puerto Rico have all faced shortages.
Those rental trucks are so convenient that criminals have been using them to commit crimes and move their loot. A series of police pursuits involving U-Haul vehicles in greater Los Angeles in recent months has highlighted what some in law enforcement say is an uptick in crimes involving the company’s vehicles. Detectives in the San Fernando Valley suspect at least two burglary crews have used stolen credit-card numbers to rent the trucks through the company’s 24-hour self-service app, which gives customers access to lock boxes with keys for the vehicles without an employee present. The two crews had deployed rental trucks in multiple burglaries before anyone realized the vehicles had been fraudulently secured. “It’s not until (U-Haul) gets notified by credit-card security that they start putting it together.” In all, police know of at least four burglaries in the last couple of weeks involving stolen U-Hauls just in the valley. U-Haul burglars are so popular that officers in an unmarked police car are specifically looking for U-Haul trucks out on the roads at odd hours.
Rent a smile
A man called his neighbor to help you move a couch that had become stuck in the doorway. They pushed and pulled until they were exhausted, but the couch wouldn’t budge. “Forget it,” the owner finally said. “We’ll never get this in,” the neighbor looked at him quizzically and said, “In?”
“I’m moving to Mars next week, so if you have any boxes…”
Did y’all hear that the Ringling Bros. circus is closing down?
Moving their act to the White House.
My girlfriend told me to move out as I am no help around the house.
So as I walked out, I tightened the lids on all the jars in the kitchen.
January 31st Birthdays
1976 – Priety Zieta, 1971 – Minni Driver , 1974 – Portia DelRossi, 1964 – Martha McCallum
1919 – Jackie Robinson, 1981 – Justin Timberlake, 1996 – Joel Courtney, 1978 – Bobby Moynihan